No-Frills Fighter: A Visit to The Pit With John Hackleman
- Robert Young
- 3 days ago
- 9 min read
On my way to California’s Central Coast to interview a 57-year-old male martial artist who paints his toenails, I got bogged down in construction traffic, which gave me no nutritional option but to eat the only thing I could scavenge from my glove box: an energy bar that boasted “protein from real crickets.”
That should have steeled me for anything that was about to come, but it didn’t.
Once I pulled into The Pit, John Hackleman’s dojo in Arroyo Grande, and started chatting with the gruff martial artist — who happens to be a registered nurse — my incredulity grew so much that if my mind had a jaw, it would have been hanging like that of a kid watching his first Bruce Lee movie.
Before I left, I'd reached what for me is a rare realization: If I lived closer to The Pit, I’d sign up for lessons.
"Bite him like a dog - a dog that wants to stay alive!"
Those simple words, spoken during the explanation of a self-defense technique, sum up the no-fangs-barred fighting philosophy of John Hackleman, former kajukenbo student and current master of Hawaiian kempo. The fight-dirty manifesto is unexpected coming from the mouth of the man who coached UFC standout Chuck Liddell to play fair in the cage.
In effect, the words illustrate the sport-vs.-street dichotomy that has been John Hackleman’s life.